Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya was born on 22 July 1989 and is a Nigerian and New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines.
53 Facts About Israel Adesanya
2.
Israel Adesanya's father, Oluwafemi, is an accountant and his mother, Taiwo, is a nurse.
3.
Israel Adesanya attended Chrisland School, Opebi, and enrolled in its Taekwondo after-school club until he was removed by his mother due to an injury.
4.
Israel Adesanya was not interested in sports during high school; instead he was interested in Japanese anime such as Death Note and the manga series Naruto.
5.
Israel Adesanya was bullied during his high school years and attributes the mistreatment he experienced to his decision to pursue martial arts later in life.
6.
At the age of 21, Israel Adesanya moved to Auckland, New Zealand, and began training in mixed martial arts under Eugene Bareman at City Kickboxing, with future UFC fighters such as Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France and current UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski.
7.
Israel Adesanya is fluent in Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin and English.
8.
In May 2010, Israel Adesanya won the first fight of his seven-fight winning streak, defeating Tim Atonio by unanimous decision.
9.
Israel Adesanya won his next six fights, fighting almost exclusively with Wu Lin Feng in China.
10.
Israel Adesanya lost the semifinal bout against Simon Marcus by an extra round split decision.
11.
Israel Adesanya afterwards made his Glory debut at Glory 15, when he faced Filip Verlinden.
12.
Israel Adesanya participated in the King in the Ring Cruiserweights II tournament of the regional circuit in New Zealand.
13.
Israel Adesanya scored technical knockouts of Kim Loudon and Mark Timms in the quarterfinal and semifinal bouts respectively, before winning the tournament for the second time with a first-round knockout of Pati Afoa.
14.
Israel Adesanya defeated Nase Foai by TKO in the quarterfinal and Dan Roberts by KO in the semifinal, before facing Jamie Eades in the finals.
15.
Israel Adesanya won five of his next six fights, including victories over Yousri Belgaroui and Bogdan Stoica.
16.
Israel Adesanya's loss came at the hands of future GLORY Middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who won by unanimous decision.
17.
Israel Adesanya defeated Robert Thomas by unanimous decision in the semifinals, and won the tournament with a split decision victory over Yousri Belgaroui.
18.
Israel Adesanya fought Jason Wilnis for the Glory Middleweight championship at Glory 37: Los Angeles.
19.
Israel Adesanya's last kickboxing fight, before transitioning to mixed martial arts, was a rematch with Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7.
20.
Israel Adesanya made his professional debut in 2012, with a TKO win against James Griffiths.
21.
Israel Adesanya scored another TKO win against John Vake, before taking a two-year hiatus from mixed martial arts.
22.
Israel Adesanya returned to MMA in August 2015, when he won the fight against Song Kenan by TKO.
23.
In December 2017, it was announced that Israel Adesanya had signed a contract with the UFC.
24.
Israel Adesanya made his debut against Rob Wilkinson on 11 February 2018, at UFC 221.
25.
Israel Adesanya won the fight via technical knockout in the second round.
26.
Israel Adesanya's next fight took place on 14 April 2018, against Marvin Vettori at UFC on Fox 29.
27.
Israel Adesanya then faced Brad Tavares on 6 July 2018, at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale.
28.
Israel Adesanya faced Derek Brunson on 3 November 2018, at UFC 230.
29.
Israel Adesanya won the fight via technical knockout in round one.
30.
Israel Adesanya faced Kelvin Gastelum for the interim UFC Middleweight Championship on 13 April 2019, in the co-main event of UFC 236.
31.
Israel Adesanya then faced Robert Whittaker in a title unification bout on 6 October 2019, headlining UFC 243 for UFC Middleweight Championship.
32.
Israel Adesanya next faced three-time UFC title challenger Yoel Romero on 7 March 2020 UFC 248.
33.
Israel Adesanya won the fight via technical knockout in the second round.
34.
At the weight-ins, Israel Adesanya weighed 200 pounds, five pounds away from the light heavyweight limit.
35.
Israel Adesanya rematched Marvin Vettori for the UFC Middleweight Championship on 12 June 2021, headlining UFC 263.
36.
Israel Adesanya faced Jared Cannonier on 2 July 2022, at UFC 276.
37.
Israel Adesanya faced Alex Pereira, who had two victories against him in kickboxing, on 12 November 2022 at UFC 281.
38.
Israel Adesanya lost the fight and title via technical knockout in the fifth round, his first loss at middleweight.
39.
Israel Adesanya won the fight and title via knockout in the second round.
40.
Israel Adesanya began his professional boxing career in November 2014 against two-time Australian champion Daniel Ammann.
41.
Israel Adesanya was granted one of two wildcards to enter the inaugural cruiserweight Super 8 Boxing Tournament.
42.
Israel Adesanya suffered a controversial loss via unanimous decision after he looked to have outpointed Ammann in the quarter-finals.
43.
Israel Adesanya re-entered the Super 8 tournament in May 2015, held at Horncastle Arena in Christchurch.
44.
Israel Adesanya won his first professional fight against fellow New Zealander Asher Derbyshire in the first seed.
45.
Israel Adesanya won his semifinal match against Zane Hopman by unanimous decision, and defended the cruiserweight crown with a unanimous decision win against Lance Bryant in the final.
46.
In February 2020, Israel Adesanya came under fire for comments made at the UFC 248 pre-fight press conference, where he said he would make opponent Yoel Romero "crumble like the Twin Towers", referencing the September 11 attacks.
47.
On 16 November 2022, Adesanya was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City for the possession of brass knuckles.
48.
Israel Adesanya highlighted his passion for dance in a choreographed walkout at UFC 243.
49.
Israel Adesanya is a fan of anime and has stated he would like to start an anime production company after retiring from fighting.
50.
Israel Adesanya's nickname "The Last Stylebender" is a reference to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an anime-influenced cartoon series.
51.
Israel Adesanya has the image of one of the show's main characters, Toph Beifong, tattooed on his forearm.
52.
Israel Adesanya endorsed a "yes" vote in the 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum.
53.
In June 2021, Israel Adesanya advocated tougher penalties against coward punching following the death of his training partner Fau Vake, who died after being punched in the head the previous month.